In her discussion of the new season’s sitcom fare, Alessandra Stanley of the NY Times makes some interesting points about the role taboo plays in sitcom humor. One question she raises is, how can writers best subvert social norms for the sake of a joke when social norms have shifted so dramatically over time and vary so widely across demographic?
Stanley observes that new shows like Worst Week (CBS) and The Life and Times of Tim (HBO) subject their passive protagonists to gross-out humiliation, where more established insensitive comedies like Curb Your Enthusiasm (HBO) and The Sarah Silverman Program (Comedy Central), pit their uninhibited characters against an uptight world.
The most effective way to write offensive humor in my book, however, is to employ it as a comedic device in the context of a larger, crafted plot, rather than as a premise or central quality of the main character. A well-scripted moment of humiliation will always trump a simple kick to the balls, regardless of whether the main character is kicking or being kicked.
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